


Afterglow

by ungodlyhour



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Kinda, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 18:02:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21140888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ungodlyhour/pseuds/ungodlyhour
Summary: With an angel more like a demon and a demon more like an angel, things just fall into place.





	Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea how i feel about this...but i'm winging it and posting it anyways (no pun intended)

Halloween is a big deal in Wooseok’s family, but not for the reasons you’d imagine.

There’s no trick-or-treating, no more candy in their house than usual, and especially no dressing up. Because why would they need to dress up, when their very own real, certainly not made out of plastic (or whatever human’s costumes are made out of, Wooseok doesn’t know), angel wings are tucked snugly away behind their backs? 

It just feels wrong to dress up as something and join in with a bunch of humans who mostly don’t know of their existence. Wooseok’s family usually spent their Halloween celebrating together, ignoring all of the human traditions, letting their wings out freely and relaxing after hiding them in their daily life. Sometimes, Wooseok would go to parties just to see if anyone is dressed up as angel so he could laugh at them internally. Not to their face, though—that’d be a hard one to explain without exposing himself, but also without sounding like an asshole.

(He did dress up as a demon once when he was younger, though, just to be ironic. The horns looked cute on him.)

That’s why Wooseok can’t believe his ears when Yohan insists he has to come to a Halloween party with him this year, and he _ has _ to dress up as something. 

“Yohan, I’m literally an angel.”

“Then dress up as an angel,” Yohan suggests, entirely serious. He snorts. “That’d be funny, actually. Because you’re actually an angel.”

Wooseok rolls his eyes. “I’ll come but there’s no way I’m dressing up.”

“Why?” Yohan whines. “Where’s the harm in it? Does it hurt your pride?”

“Mm,” Wooseok doesn’t bother sugarcoating it, crossing his arms and pouting even though Yohan had said it jokingly. “I love being an angel. Why should I pretend I’m something else? I don’t _ have _to pretend.”

He turns his back to Yohan and flutters his wings, just to prove his point like Yohan isn’t already aware. It feels nice to not have to hide his wings around his friends when they’re 100% sure they’re alone, a privilege he doesn’t get most of the time.

It’s Yohan’s turn to roll his eyes this time. “You know, if I’d have known about angels really existing before meeting you, I wouldn’t imagine them with your personality.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m saying you’d suit being a demon more.” Yohan flicks Wooseok in the forehead, and it only makes Wooseok pout harder. 

“I’m surprised you’re not a demon.” He shoots back sharply, rubbing the sore spot as soon as Yohan moves away. 

“Maybe I am,” Yohan says seriously, but breaks into a goofy laugh as soon as Wooseok eyes him, giving himself away. “Hyung, _please_, what can I do to get you to do it? Because you know I’m not going to give up. We could even have matching costumes, wouldn’t it be fun?”

Wooseok stops to think, contemplating his options. It wouldn’t be _ that bad_—it is just his pride as an angel that’s stopping him from going through with the idea after all, not some life-threatening consequence, and Yohan seems genuinely excited at the idea. No one would care if he did, but _ Wooseok would. _And Wooseok is stubborn, so he stands his ground once again with a firm “Absolutely nothing”.

“I’ll tell Hangyul about that time you admitted you’d fuck him if he kept doing squats.”

“I’ll do it.”

Yohan smirks, clapping his hands together once to commend himself. “Easy peasy.”

Wooseok decides that if he’s going to dress up to make Yohan happy, then he’s going to make it count. And that’s how he ends up at the party in a sexy cat costume—or in the words of Yohan, the most typical costume Wooseok could’ve picked (Wooseok takes that as a compliment).

If the shortest, black leather hot pants he could find wasn’t enough, lace adorning his arms and chest, Yohan’s jaw drops when his eyes travel lower and settle on his thigh highs. The top of them are cut into the shape of a cat lying comfortably on his thighs, like his kitty ears and whiskers neatly drawn on by Seungwoo weren’t making the fact that he’s dressed like a cat obvious enough.

It’s not the type of jaw dropping Wooseok would like, though. All Yohan’s wide eyes tell him is that he thinks it’s _ a lot._

“This is exactly what I expected from you, but I’m still caught off guard.”

Well, Wooseok wasn’t expecting Yohan to find it sexy, anyway. He’s too much of a bro for that.

He feels good about it, though, as he strolls into the party with Seungwoo, Hangyul and Yohan by his side, forgetting about his whole “If I dress up my pride will be hurt” dilemma. He spots someone dressed as an angel before anything else, his eyes landing on them like it was fate, and it makes him laugh to himself. It never gets less funny.

Wooseok enjoys partying, and this particular party is set up in a much bigger house than the house parties he usually goes to, so it’s not _ too _ sweaty and cramped (it’s still pretty sweaty and cramped, though). It’s not hard to let himself fall into the adrenaline spread through the rooms by a bunch of stressed, young adults letting themselves go for a night instead of thinking about the essay they probably left half-done at home. 

The playlist is pretty good, too, at least compared to the last Halloween party he went to (he still isn’t sure if the playing of ghostbusters 6 times in a row was unintentional or completely intentional, but either way, it wasn’t an enjoyable experience).

Everything is going fine until the last person he wants to see turns up right in front of him, greeting everyone but him with a huge, annoying grin on his face.

To make it worse, he’s dressed as a _ demon_, red horns resting on his head. Wooseok just huffs a mocking laugh through his nose at the sight instead of greeting him because 1) That’s definitely not what demon horns actually look like, and 2) _ Of course _Cho Seungyoun would dress up as the thing Wooseok is supposed to hate most in the world. Of fucking course.

“Hey, Wooseok. I’ve never seen you dressed up before.”

There’s a different smile on his face when he turns to greet Wooseok—still very much annoying, though. In fact, it’s _ more _ annoying, now more of a smug smirk than a genuine grin, a smirk that says “I know how much you hate me and I find joy in it”.

“And you won’t again.” Wooseok snaps back, throwing his head back to down the cup of alcohol in his hand. Anything to not see Seungyoun’s face.

“Don’t be like that. What did I do?” If Wooseok turns to look at Seungyoun instead of where he’s staring off into space, focusing on anything _ but _him, he knows he’ll see a stupid pout on his face. So he doesn’t. “You know, you’ve never answered what made you hate me so much.”

It probably shouldn’t, but it infuriates Wooseok endlessly that Seungyoun hardly ever says anything insulting back. Wooseok doesn’t find joy in fighting, and he considers himself a pretty nice person (he’s an angel after all—it’s natural), but when he knows Seungyoun wants to say something back, when he knows he probably _ deserves _ it for not being able to control his mouth around Seungyoun, it’s frustrating to hear him still try his best to be nice around him. It just makes Wooseok dislike him more.

“I don’t have to answer that.” _ I can’t answer that_.

Truthfully, Wooseok isn’t exactly sure why he dislikes Seungyoun so much. He knows he thinks he’s arrogant, annoying, irritating and any word that has a similar meaning, but he can’t say why he thinks that—there’s no solid evidence to back it up, but he doesn’t need evidence. That’s just how he feels. 

Seungyoun shrugs. “Fine. But I’ll get it out of you one day.”

Wooseok hears Hangyul mutter “Why do things always get weird between them?” under his breath to Yohan and Seungwoo as all 3 of them saunter off, Wooseok easily losing track of them as they get caught behind swaying bodies and various masks and hats. 

“They left.” Seungyoun states obviously, like it doesn’t bother him in the slightest.

“What does he mean by weird?” Wooseok says. Seungyoun’s lips quiver like he’s trying to hold in a laugh. He really is _ infuriating. _ Wooseok swiftly ignores it. “You just _ had _ to have the same friends as me, huh?”

“Hey, I was friends with Seungwoo and Yohan before you_ ,” _Seungyoun retorts, eyes starting to narrow in genuine annoyance. Finally. “It’s not my fault Hangyul instantly liked me more than you, too.”

“Bullshit. Whatever, this is stupid.” 

“You literally started it.”

“And I’m ending it.”

Seungyoun sighs. “It’s unreal how annoying you can be, sometimes. Anyway, you look good.”

“Huh?” Wooseok’s head snaps back towards Seungyoun, caught off guard by the compliment. Seungyoun’s eyes are locked on his thighs, not bothering to be subtle at all. It makes Wooseok realise how close they’re standing, and he takes a step back instinctively.

“The costume really suits you. I was trying to tell you that before you decided to attack me.”

Wooseok never usually finds himself flustered by compliments. It only happens when someone he has feelings for says it, or when it’s out of character for a certain person to say it—and that’s exactly what causes his gaze to fall to the floor, urging the slight blush to disappear from his cheeks, though there’s no way Seungyoun will notice it in the dim lighting.

There’s one thing more frustrating than Seungyoun not insulting him back, Wooseok realises, and it’s Seungyoun complimenting him.

But there’s one more thing even _ more _ frustrating than that—Wooseok not being able to be witty back like usual, the words getting stuck in his throat when he tries to mutter “I know”.

Instead, a meek “Thanks” comes out, cut off by him shoving his cup into his mouth once again.

Seungyoun’s eyes widen. “Woah, Kim Wooseok _ not _ insulting me? Kim Wooseok being genuine for once in his life?”

“Literally shut up.” Wooseok says, voice coming out in a mumble with his cup still shoved in his face.

“Is that all it takes? Compliments?” There’s a wicked grin on Seungyoun’s face as he adjusts himself to get a better view of Wooseok, leaning completely sideways against the wall. Wooseok can almost see the cogs in his brain turning, processing the new information and storing it for future use. “All this time, I just needed to compliment you.”

Wooseok groans. It’s his fault. He let his guard down for a moment, gave in to the weaker part of him. He needs to fix this. “It caught me off guard, that’s all. Mention it again and you’re dead.”

Seungyoun’s grin only grows at the statement. “No promises.”

They fall into silence for a minute or two, tuning in to the song and chatter instead of each other’s voices. Then Wooseok’s eye twitches.

“Why are you still here?”

“Why are _ you _ still here?” Seungyoun repeats Wooseok’s words, an innocent look on his face instead of the usual smug grin. 

“I don’t know where the others went.” Wooseok replies quickly, saying the first excuse that enters his mind. The embarassment that fills his gut from being around Seungyoun for a couple minutes without _ completely _hating it all because of a compliment is torture. 

“They wouldn’t have gone far. You could easily find them,” Seungyoun says. “I’m enjoying the view, though.”

Wooseok bangs his head against the back of the wall with a groan, closing his eyes. “You better be seeing something I’m not seeing and not mean what I think you mean.”

His initial thought is confirmed when he opens his eyes and brings his gaze back to Seungyoun. Seungyoun’s own gaze is no longer on Wooseok’s thighs, but it follows the lace on his arm, back up to his kitty ears, back down to his eyes, nose, lips. And then he has the audacity to lick his lips.

He’s still as unsubtle as ever, his expression written all over his face. Wooseok sees want, and when Wooseok sees someone look at him that way, he can’t resist it—not even when it’s someone he hates, apparently.

“You are so annoying,” Wooseok says, and he means every word. He’s still annoying, even if his features suddenly look softer, and his broad shoulders are suddenly harder to look away from, and his grin is suddenly leaning more towards attractive than annoying. “You are so, so annoying.”

Seungyoun is annoying, even when Wooseok allows his needs to take over. Even when he’s cornering him against the wall, standing on his tippy toes to place his lips on the taller’s, immediately getting a loud groan and hands on his waist in response. 

Wooseok hardly gets a reaction from Seungyoun’s lips before Seungyoun pulls away and opens his mouth. “What happened to hating me?”

“I haven’t got laid in months, that’s what. Now stop talking before I stop and think about how much I hate you again.”

Seungyoun obeys with a laugh, connecting their lips again. It’s messy and intense and noisy, just like most of the drunk couples in the room, the unpleasant tension between them immediately overcome by the need for each others touch, the taste of alcohol lingering on their lips. Their teeth bash a few times and it hurts a little more than Wooseok would like to admit when Seungyoun bites down on his bottom lip the first time, but the tongue that traces it after in a silent apology is a miracle worker. 

Seungyoun’s hands find their way to Wooseok’s butt, lifting him up to cling around his waist as easily as he would pick up a pretty flower he found on the floor.

Wooseok moans into his mouth as their hips accidentally bump, and the noise brings him back down to earth, pulling away from Seungyoun but still letting him hold him up. “We don’t talk about this after, okay. _ Promise me._”

Seungyoun laughs again. “Okay, whatever. You can go back to insulting me after, I promise.”

That sounds good to Wooseok. He falls into the perfect rhythm they’d finally set again, the line between enemies (can Wooseok even say they’re enemies? He can admit it’s a _ little _onesided) and young, needy students blurring into something in between. 

He reaches up to tangle his hands in Seungyoun’s hair that’s usually hidden under a beanie, and that’s when he feels it. 2 lumps that feel oddly similar to the demon horns he’d felt when he was just 6 years old and had come across a demon for the first time.

It was back when a demon and angel coming into contact wasn’t really a thing, naturally gravitating away from each other, usually just _ feeling _when there was one of their opposites nearby, staying away from said being. Staying away from each other was kind of old fashioned, though. At least Wooseok’s family believed so. His parents knew a demon, a fully grown adult who was extremely kind and nothing how Wooseok had imagined demons to be based on the history books he’d read, and the demon had let Wooseok, being the curious angel that he was, feel his horns.

He remembers the feeling well—firm, somewhat rough, extremely cold—not how fake horns should feel, and that’s exactly what Wooseok feels in his hands. But the only thing thats sits upon Seungyoun’s head are cheap, fake horns. _ It doesn’t make sense._

He decides the little amount of alcohol he consumed must be affecting him more than he’d realised and lets himself fall into the kiss again. Until his hands go further back, passing the lumps he’d felt, to clutch onto the fake horns he’d assumed he was feeling. 

They were definitely the fake horns. And it’s definitely _ not _what he was feeling at first, because when he drags his fingers back he feels the lumps again, even clearer this time. Wooseok’s mouth stops moving out of instinct, and Seungyoun stills.

Wooseok isn’t sure whether Seungyoun stills because he did, or because of the way he’s clutching onto his ho—no, that can’t be it. There has to be some mistake. He’s just overthinking.

Wooseok pulls back to look Seungyoun clearly in the eye, searching for any clues in his expression to either confirm or deny his thoughts. He doesn’t find anything—only confusion, eyebrows furrowed together.

Wooseok’s gaze travels up to Seungyoun’s hair. Just as he’d suspected, there’s 2 pairs of horns; the fake, red horns he’d seen originally, much bigger than real horns, and black horns. The black horns are in front and much smaller than the ones Wooseok had seen in the past, like they hadn’t been allowed to fully come out, but from what he can tell in the dull lighting, they look the exact same texture, the exact same shape.

He breathes out in shock, a wave of ice cold chills running through his body. “Shut up.”

“What?” Seungyoun whines, clueless. Does he not realise? “I didn’t even speak first this time.”

Wooseok shakes his head and lets his legs fall back to the floor, grabbing Seungyoun’s hand. He doesn’t mean to grab it hard, but his mind is trying to process the fact that Seungyoun could be a _ demon_. It’s unavoidable that there’s an intensity to his grip that makes Seungyoun wince as Wooseok drags them away from the crowd and down the hall into the first unoccupied room he can find.

“What are those horns?” Wooseok asks frantically after he shuts the door, Seungyoun standing a good distance away with his hands in the air like Wooseok is about to arrest him.

“What are you talking about? This is a _ Halloween _ party. I’m dressed as a _ demon. _ Are you drunker than I thought?”

“I’m not drunk at all,” Wooseok says. “Not those horns. The other ones.”

That’s all Seungyoun needs to hear for his eyes to widen in pure horror, jaw dropping open so far it would be comical if Wooseok wasn’t so taken aback by his discovery. His hands rush up to feel the top of his head at the same time that he rushes towards a full-body mirror that’s miraculously in the bedroom Wooseok had chosen. _ Perfect timing, _ he thinks to himself.

Seungyoun doesn’t say anything while he watches himself in the mirror, but from where Wooseok’s standing, just a little further back, he can see his expression clearly. His mouth is closed now, but his eyes are filled with worry, swallowing multiple times like his throat has gone dry.

Wooseok understands—Seungyoun doesn’t know he’s an angel, after all. If Wooseok’s wings were to come out when he wasn’t prepared in front of people who aren’t aware, he’d freak out too. Being a being like them in a world like this isn’t normal to most people, so waiting for the reaction of people finding out can be torture, and that’s what Seungyoun is experiencing currently.

Wooseok is overwhelmed with the urge to comfort him, suddenly (for the first time in his life). It’s nothing personal, though, he swears. He just gets it. 

“I’m sorry, I literally have no believable explanation for this,” Seungyoun starts, allowing his horns to fully appear. In the clearer lighting Wooseok notices they’re much brighter than any he’d seen before, glowing, almost. Similar to Wooseok’s halo. “If I tell you the truth I don’t know if you’ll believe me.”

“I believe you. You’re a demon, right?” 

Seungyoun’s breath hitches but he nods without hesitation. He turns to look at Wooseok, though he could see him clearly in their reflection. “You know about us?”

“Given that I’m an angel, yeah.” Wooseok says casually, sitting down on the bed as his heart starts to calm down now that the situation is starting to sink in.

Seungyoun enters a state of shock again before his expression merges into one of suspicion. “You’re not an angel.”

“Why? Don’t I look like one?”

“Oh, you definitely look like one,” Seungyoun says, and Wooseok won’t admit it, but he blushes again. Just for a second. “But you don’t act like one.”

“Well you don’t really act like a demon, either. Maybe they got us mixed up,” Wooseok retorts, and for some reason it makes Seungyoun laugh, the worry completely gone from his face. “I do act like an angel, by the way. You just don’t know me.”

While Seungyoun is giving him an unbelieving look in response, something hits Wooseok.

Seungyoun is a _ demon._ Wooseok is an angel. Naturally, due to the history between the 2 beings, they don’t do well around each other. Rarely they can get along, as his parents have proved, but wouldn’t that explain why he instantly hated Seungyoun when they’d met for the first time, irritated by him for no apparent reason? 

Does he not hate Seungyoun after all? No, he definitely does. He’s no less annoying just because he’s a demon. He should be _ more _ annoying to him now. But what if he’s annoying just because he’s a demon, meaning Wooseok doesn’t actually find _ him _ annoying? 

Wooseok falls back onto the bed, shoving his face in his hands. It’s all too much to take in. 

“Prove you’re an angel.” Seungyoun cuts him out of his thoughts, and Wooseok wastes no time in sitting up and letting his wings protrude freely. They flutter, putting on a show, because Wooseok is like that.

“Do you have a halo too?”

Wooseok hums, focusing all of his body on making it appear, after years of practicing to hide it and bring it out on command. He can’t tell that it’s appeared by vision alone, but Seungyoun’s expression confirms it, eyes lighting up as his eyes focus somewhere above him. “Woah.”

“It’s pretty, right?” Wooseok states, the smugness in his tone evident. It’s risky, allowing himself to be fully seen in a room that isn’t locked, but if someone walks in, at least they’re going down together—or they could just pass it off as extremely realistic looking costumes. That’d probably be easier.

Seungyoun pays no attention to the cockiness, nodding enthusiastically. “It’s _ so _ pretty. Really suits you. Even if you don’t look angelic at all in that costume.” 

_ Oh._ Wooseok had completely forgotten about his sexy cat costume. The hotpants and lace must be a weird contrast to his glowing halo and wings.

Seungyoun fiddles with his horns in the mirror again. “How did my horns even come out? That’s never happened before.”

Wooseok thinks to himself. It takes a lot of pressure and practice to perfect the art of keeping yourself completely hidden, but once you have it down, you have it_ down._ It’s extremely unlikely that you’ll ever face a mishap like that. The only time he’s ever heard of it happening was when someone was in extreme pain, or had feelings so intense for someone that they were unable to hide any part of them in front of them.

The last one isn’t an option, of course. 

“Were you in pain?”

“Of course not,” Seungyoun replies. “The opposite, actually. Wait. Horny._ Horn."_

“Oh my god.”

“I cracked it,” Seungyoun says. “I’m a genius.”

Wooseok’s body shivers a little for a moment, taking the dumb pun as a reminder of what they were doing before they were so rudely interrupted by Seungyoun’s horns. 

“I don’t think that’s it, Seungyoun.” He deadpans, but there’s the smallest of smiles on his lips. Seungyoun is just so _ stupid_.

Seungyoun hums. “Then I really have no idea if it’s not that. That’s weird.”

“We should get back. I’ll leave first so it doesn’t look suspicious,” Wooseok says, standing up and brushing his clothes down with his hands. He hides his wings and halo quicker than the blink of an eye. “Do the others know about you being a demon?”

“All except Yohan. I’ve never found the right time to bring it up to him.”

“You should tell him. He was the easiest to tell, for me. He’s met a few angels and demons before, weirdly.” Is what Wooseok says, but what he really means is he’s going to tell Yohan everything about what happened tonight because he needs his input and he doesn’t want to expose Seungyoun before Seungyoun himself.

“He has? Then I’ll tell him later, maybe.”

_ Perfect._ It’s like Seungyoun can read his mind.

Wooseok heads towards the door, turning back to see if Seungyoun’s following him when he reaches it. Seungyoun’s sitting on the bed, watching Wooseok like he’s deep in thought. “You’re not coming?”

“I have a proposition. Take it as a challenge,” Seungyoun says, completely ignoring Wooseok’s question. “You know how demons and angels aren’t supposed to get on, right? Worse than us.”

Wooseok stares blankly. “Yes…”

“Have you ever heard of a demon and angel going on a date?”

Alarm bells ring in Wooseok’s head. He knows what’s coming, because _ of course _ Seungyoun would think like that. Maybe it is just to challenge himself, prove that angels and demons can get along _ more _ than fine, but Wooseok isn’t having any of it. He still doesn’t like him. 

“Are you forgetting I don’t like you?” Wooseok simply says, already opening the door to head out. “I just haven’t got laid in a while.”

When he closes the door behind him, he hears Seungyoun distantly yell “But we didn’t even fuck!”, evidently confused and offended. 

“He asked you on a _ date?"_

“Not directly,” Wooseok says, stirring his ramen and refusing to look up at Yohan’s shocked face. “I didn’t let him, but he hinted at it.”

“And you didn’t even consider saying yes?”

“Why would I?” Wooseok spits out.

Yohan sighs. “Because I know you, and the way you act with Seungyoun doesn’t feel...genuine.”

Wooseok snaps his head back up to stare at him. “What do you mean?”

“Like, I’ve seen you around people you hate before. You won’t talk to them even if they talk to you, but most of the time, you’re the first one to start a conversation with him.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Wooseok argues. “He just annoys me more than they did.”

“See, but I also know that’s not true,” Yohan says, tilting his head and staring suspiciously like he’s a detective looking at his biggest clue yet. “There’s no way you dislike Seungyoun who’s never done anything to you or _ anyone _ more than the complete assholes you’ve hated in the past.”

Wooseok’s head drops again, not liking where this is going. “But he’s a demon. That’s a good enough reason.”

“You’ve told me multiple times that demons and angels can get along just fine. Only that they usually stay away from each other, like they just know when one’s around.”

“Exactly. That doesn’t mean we want to be around demons.”

“But you and Seungyoun always hover around each other,” Yohan continues. He’s leaning closer across the table now, scrutinising Wooseok who still refuses to look at him. “Hangyul and Seungwoo noticed too. It gets weird when you’re around each other. And last night, when we left, you guys stuck around, fighting each other or whatever you guys do.”

Wooseok freezes. Did he see them kiss? He specifically left out that detail when telling Yohan about last night, for this exact reason. He’d start speculating, acting like Wooseok doesn’t actually hate Seungyoun just because he technically initiated the kiss. But Seungyoun was the one looking at him like _ that._

Which he does—hate him still, that is. Even if he thinks Seungyoun’s just a little cuter, a little funnier than he originally thought. That’s not important.

“What are you trying to say?” 

“I think—and this is just my opinion, as Sherlock Holmes’ successor, so don’t bite my head off—that you, hyung, are protecting yourself.”

“From _ what_?” Wooseok says, not falling for Yohan’s whole performance. He has a tendency to get too ahead of himself. “A demon? Yeah. Of course.”

There’s no real reason for Wooseok to need to protect himself from a demon, though. Demons could be manipulative and selfish, and criminals were usually demons, but in this generation, that was dying out. Demons and angels alike were becoming more of their own people, losing the traits that they’d originally had and becoming unique individuals instead.

“No, from getting hurt,” Yohan’s tone softens. “I think you’ve been interested in him from the moment you first met but hyung doesn’t let people in that easily, does he?”

Wooseok scoffs, ignoring the way his throat suddenly dries up. “You’re insane. Crazy. You’ve lost it.”

Yohan smiles, leaning back in his seat. “You keep telling yourself that. I’m just saying he seems like your type.”

Wooseok just shoves the biggest mouthful of ramen he can get in his mouth, hoping it will keep him unable to speak _ and _ think for a while.

The thing about Seungyoun is he always seems to appear at the most random times. Having some of the same friends and being in the same college, it’s inevitable for Wooseok to come across him sometimes, but when Seungyoun strolls into the library he’s studying in a few days later, Wooseok is less prepared to see him than he’s ever been before.

Out of instinct, he smacks his head on the table, hoping Seungyoun won’t notice him. But the smack is _ loud. _And it hurts. Not only does Seungyoun notice him, his head snapping towards the table that the noise came from, the librarians do too, shushing Wooseok firmly. Wooseok stands up and bows as an apology, attaching his face to the table again when he sits back down. But _ gently _ this time.

It’s too late, though, because Wooseok feels Seungyoun’s presence before he sees him. He hears the chair next to him scrape against the floor, followed by an apology for making a noise in a voice that’s undoubtedly Seungyoun’s, unique and unlike any voice Wooseok’s heard before. 

“Why are you hiding?”

“M’not hiding.” 

“No insult today?”

Wooseok lifts his head from the table to look Seungyoun in the eye. “Fuck you.”

Seungyoun breaks into a full-blown smile, and the fact that Wooseok can’t force himself to be angry at the fact his distress is entertaining Seungyoun for once terrifies him.

“There he is,” Seungyoun says happily, like he just got complimented instead of a fuck you. “It feels wrong when you’re not being mean to me.”

_ Tell me about it,_ Wooseok thinks, removing his gaze from Seungyoun in an attempt to stop the nerves that bubble up in his chest. Why is he suddenly nervous around _ Seungyoun _?

“Why are you here?” He asks, distracting himself with the book in his hand.

“I just came to study, I didn’t know you were here. Do you want me to move?” 

It’s a simple question, but Wooseok’s head immediately spins, because he doesn’t want Seungyoun to move. He doesn’t feel annoyed in his presence anymore, he doesn’t feel like he’d rather be alone than sit next to Seungyoun.

He definitely shouldn’t have kissed him. Maybe if he still didn’t know Seungyoun was a demon, he wouldn’t be questioning his feelings the way he is right now.

“You can stay.” Wooseok mutters.

“I can?”

Wooseok hums, trying to be as casual as possible. He sees Seungyoun light up into a smile once again in the corner of his eye, and it makes his stomach turn.

“Have you eaten? I bought some food from the store on the way. Take your pick.” Seungyoun pulls a bunch of food out of his bag, laying them in front of Wooseok.

Maybe Wooseok did get him wrong, he thinks, as he searches through the food that he knows is Seungyoun’s favourite, because he’d always have some in his pocket. Maybe it was just his instincts as an angel wanting him to stay away from Seungyoun. Maybe the demon wasn’t so bad, after all.

Wooseok goes home after that feeling weird. Hanging out with Seungyoun without hating him, chatting casually and quietly now and again, but mostly focusing and helping each other out when they needed it—it was weird. And _ not like them._ At all.

Seungyoun talks a lot, so Wooseok appreciates that Seungyoun was silent for a while when he told him he needed extra time and Seungyoun was already done for the night. It was a simple thing, but Wooseok has never seen him like that—Seungyoun has never cared for him like that, because why would he? Wooseok has never been nice to him. Wooseok spent his time aggravating him, for no solid reason, until Seungyoun gave in and said something back.

It was nice. But that’s the problem.

He feels like something clicked in his brain, either the moment their lips touched (probably not since it was the messiest start of a make out session Wooseok has ever experienced), or the moment he’d realised Seungyoun is a demon. It was almost like the piece of his heart that was responsible for the anger he felt towards him had broken off completely, instead making room for more acceptance and love. 

Seungyoun had shoved some more of the candy that Wooseok seemed to really enjoy when they were studying in his hand right before he left, running away like a child in trouble as soon as Wooseok took it so he couldn’t give it back. There was a lot, and Wooseok immediately considered that Seungyoun might be trying to give him a cavity—but that’s not true, and he knows it. Seungyoun just wants him to have more of something he enjoys.

Things are starting to be different, he thinks to himself right before he falls asleep, but not in a bad way. It doesn’t feel bad at all, no matter how hard he tries to convince himself it does.

“You guys are different today.” Seungwoo points out. They’re at his dorm, doing nothing at all just to procrastinate the work they need to complete. Seungwoo, Seungyoun and Wooseok sit on Seungwoo’s bed, and Yohan and Seungwoo’s roommate Sejun sit on the opposite bed, all scrolling through their phones and taking turns on what song to play. 

“Huh?” Seungyoun and Wooseok both say at the same time. 

“Who?” Wooseok asks, though he’s very aware of what Seungwoo means. It’s all he’s been thinking about recently.

“You and Seungyoun. You haven’t fought once since you got here.”

“I’m just tired,” Wooseok insists. “I’m too tired to deal with him.” He rubs his eye to accentuate his words, but he sees the corners of Seungyoun’s lips turn up. _ Do not say anything weird, or you’re dead. _

Yohan gives him a pointed look, and Wooseok really wishes he wasn’t perfectly opposite the younger to feel the look in its full intensity. 

“Did you make up finally?” Seungwoo continues. “It had to happen sometime. You guys were always fighting for no reason like little kids.”

“It wasn’t for no reason.” Wooseok argues.

“_Wasn’t?_ So it’s in the past?” Yohan speaks up this time, a knowing smirk on his lips. 

Seungyoun’s mouth opens to say something and Wooseok’s eyes widen, terrified of what he could say. Seungyoun has a habit of not being subtle about things, and Wooseok wants to keep his friends thinking he still doesn’t like Seungyoun. If they know he’s starting to feel different, it’ll become too real.

“Wooseok apologised,” Seungyoun says before Wooseok can speak up again. “I did, too. It’s in the past. We’re fine now, I think.”

Phew. It could’ve been worse. Seungyoun could’ve said something like—

“We also made out. So that adds to it, I guess.”

that. Wait, Seungyoun _ said that._

Wooseok’s eyes widen further, sitting up and tensing. “Seungyoun, what the fuck?”

“What?” Seungyoun asks, pretty eyes twinkling with innocence. _ Not the time to realise he has pretty eyes, Wooseok._ “Why can’t they know?”

Yohan and Seungwoo are watching them with open mouths, Yohan 2 seconds away from bursting into laughter. Sejun is just watching with confusion. 

“You _ made out?_ When?” Seungwoo asks, shocked. Yohan is full on laughing at this point, probably waiting for the right moment to say “I told you so” to Wooseok.

“It wasn’t anything more than that,” Wooseok clarifies frantically. “It was at the party. I guess we were just in the mood. And we’re both hot. Can’t blame us.”

Seungwoo snorts. “Fair enough. I just never expected that from you two.”

“Neither did I,” Seungyoun admits, unbothered by their reactions. Wooseok’s face, however, is practically on fire. “Wooseok kissed me.”

“What the fuck? It’s because you were looking at me weirdly.”

“Like what?”

“Like you wanted to eat me.” Wooseok says. He forgets there’s others in the room for a moment—maybe Yohan was right about Wooseok hovering around Seungyoun. 

He would’ve forgot for longer if Yohan’s laugh wasn’t so horrifyingly loud.

“They’re still arguing,” Yohan states to Seungwoo. “Hey, if you’re going to dirty talk, go outside. Poor Sejun here isn’t used to your antics.”

“We’re not—” Wooseok starts, but Seungyoun cuts him off. “Okay, come on Wooseokie.”

The only reason Wooseok follows Seungyoun out of the room is because of the embarrassment he’s feeling from being exposed for kissing someone he’s supposed to hate. He can’t bear to hear Yohan laugh about it anymore. 

When they get into the hallway and shut the door behind them, Seungyoun is laughing a full, hearty laugh that eradicates any anger Wooseok had in his body at that moment. It’s contagious, the shape of Seungyoun’s eyes as he howls, all of his teeth and gums showing, nose scrunched. The way his laugh is high and loud, just like his voice, and it sounds like it’s almost painful for him to breathe.

Wooseok laughs too. When his stomach does a flip when Seungyoun’s eyes squeeze shut with a particularly loud giggle, Wooseok laughs harder, because he’s starting to think he’s stupid. Has Seungyoun been this cute the whole time? Was he hating someone as cute as Seungyoun?

Does he have a small crush on a demon? Maybe. He thinks it’s funny that it’s just now hitting him, when Seungyoun has been around, bothering him when he just wanted to hang out with his friends, for so long. If he’d stopped insulting him for a second, maybe he’d have noticed the amount of butterflies that flock to the pit of his stomach when Seungyoun laughs or looks at him for too long.

Maybe that’s what made him so angry. Maybe that’s why he instantly hated him, not because he felt that he was a demon, but because Seungyoun dared to take control of Wooseok’s emotions with a simple smile or touch when they’d accidentally bump hands.

Fuck you, Kim Yohan. Who let you be right?

Wooseok is prone to overthinking, but he doesn’t overthink that night before he sleeps. He doesn’t need to now that the answer is obvious to him—he enjoys being with Seungyoun, he wants to spend more time with Seungyoun, even if that time is spent with Wooseok being snappy when his walls refuse to come down. And the best part is, Seungyoun is in _ reach_.

So close in reach that the next morning, Wooseok doesn’t even need to get out of bed before he asks Yohan for Seungyoun’s number.

Yohan rolls over in his own bed, evidently still half asleep. “You don’t have his number?”

“I’ve never asked for it. We’ve only just…”

“Started making out.”

“_ No,_” Wooseok sends him a death glare. “Getting along.”

“Sure. You two seem like very good friends.”

“Can you just give me his number?”

Yohan gestures to the floor next to his bed where his phone is lying. Wooseok leans his top half over the edge of his own bed to pick it up. 

When his number is successfully saved in his phone, Wooseok stares dumbly. Only now it hits him that he doesn’t want to just text him out of the blue—that would show that he made an effort to get his number without just straight up asking him, like some creepy stalker or something. And Wooseok doesn’t feel like being upgraded from enemy to stalker. 

“What are you planning to do with his number?” Yohan asks, now strolling around their dorm in his boxers. 

“I don’t even know.” Wooseok says, truthfully.

“Ask him on a date.”

“Not happening. I don’t know why you’re so set on me liking him.” Wooseok says, this time, completely _ untruthfully_. 

So. Wooseok ends up on a date with Seungyoun. _ Kind of._

After a while, when the new dynamic of Seungyoun and Wooseok bickering less—Wooseok still can’t help himself sometimes—had settled in, the two of them hanging out by themselves more and more, Wooseok receives a text from Hangyul saying he left his notes in class, and that he’s going to his dorm to drop them off.

At first, Wooseok is confused, because he’s pretty sure he didn’t leave any notes behind. He doesn’t think anything suspicious of it though. Not until he opens the door to see a much taller, much darker haired man with a closed-mouth smile on his face that reveals dimples right at the corners of his lips instead of Hangyul.

“Seungyoun? Are you bringing the notes instead?”

Seungyoun’s face drops. “What? Hangyul told me you wanted to see me.”

The way his face had dropped causes a sharp tug in Wooseok’s chest. _ He thought he just wanted to see him._ “Ah—fucking Hangyul.”

“What?” Seungyoun looks confused. “Oh. He set us up, didn’t he?”

“He definitely did,” Wooseok doesn’t want Seungyoun to leave, though. He really, really doesn’t. If Seungyoun leaves now, he thinks he might cry. “Have you eaten?”

Seungyoun looks caught off guard, like he was preparing to leave, but nods. “Mhm.”

“Well, eat more.” Is all Wooseok says as he grabs his hand to pull him into his dorm room.

Now it makes sense why Yohan rushed out at a time he never usually leaves, not even making up an excuse. The fucker was in on it too.

“You’re making food?”

“No,” Fuck. Wooseok had no plan. He just didn’t want Seungyoun to leave yet. “We can...order take-out? I was just about to binge Hotel del Luna.”

Seungyoun’s face lights up, and Wooseok decides there’s no sight in existence that can beat the sight of happiness covering every inch of Seungyoun’s face. Not even all the places his parents took him when he was younger, not the prettiest waterfalls or the prettiest mountains. And lucky for Wooseok, Seungyoun always seem to be emitting happiness, so it’s a sight he gets to witness a lot.

(Wooseok doesn’t know, but it only happens that much when Wooseok is around.)

“Sounds good to me.” When Seungyoun settles himself on Wooseok’s bed at the command of Wooseok, Wooseok lingers at the side hesitantly. Him and Yohan had recently got rid of their couch after Yohan accidentally fell and ripped the entire middle of it with scissors he was carrying for some reason when he was drunk, so the only other comfy place to sit on is Yohan’s bed. For some reason, that feels extremely awkward.

“What are you doing?” Seungyoun asks. He moves closer to the wall. “You’re acting like this isn’t your room. C’mere.”

He opens his arm, and Wooseok’s face immediately heats up. Seungyoun’s wearing the same grey hoodie he usually wears (Wooseok figures he must have at least 3 of the exact same hoodie), and at that moment in time, nothing looks more inviting. Not even Lee Dongwook lying shirtless with the juiciest strawberries resting on his collarbone would be more inviting than Seungyoun in a plain grey hoodie lying on his bed, long hair fluffed up against the pillow with an arm out for Wooseok to climb into (and Lee Dongwook is Wooseok’s all time crush, so that’s saying something).

Okay, so maybe he’s fucked. Completely head over heels for a demon he thought he hated. But whatever. It feels good.

He wastes no time at the invitation, crawling into Seungyoun’s arms. He lies straight, awkwardly and stiffly with Seungyoun’s arm tucked behind his back in a way that makes Seungyoun snort.

“Tell me if I’m being too much, okay? I know you didn’t want to go on a date, so,” Seungyoun starts, adjusting Wooseok softly. He raises the hand that’s tucked under to Wooseok’s head, gently pushing it to tuck into Seungyoun’s shoulder. He rests his head on top of Wooseok’s, letting his fingers comb through Wooseok’s hair before he continues. “I don’t know if you still hate me and I don’t know if this is okay, but I think it’s only fair that I get to try this after you kissed me.”

Wooseok gulps, focusing on the tv. His heart is beating 4 beats per second. Should he say it? He has nothing to lose at this point. Everyone knows Wooseok doesn’t hate Seungyoun anymore. Even Wooseok himself is completely aware of how Seungyoun makes him feel, now. 

“It’s okay,” Wooseok manages, meek and timid unlike his usual voice when speaking to Seungyoun. “You’re warm.”

Wooseok can feel Seungyoun’s grin grow against the top of his head at his words, and it makes a smile appear on his own lips. Instead of saying anything back, Seungyoun uses his free hand to rub his thumb against Wooseok’s cheek. It’s so painfully sweet that Wooseok almost cringes, but the way his heart speeds up even more than before overtakes that feeling by a mile. 

Seungyoun reaches his head down as the first episode starts, placing the softest kiss Wooseok thinks he’s ever felt on his forehead.

Wooseok lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, one that comes out extremely intense. Seungyoun raises his eyebrows. “What was that for?”

“I don’t know,” Wooseok replies honestly, tucking his head into Seungyoun’s chest instead. “My chest always hurts around you. Stupid demon.”

“So Yohan was right this whole time. You _ do _ have feelings for me.”

Wooseok digs his face further into Seungyoun’s chest, trying to escape. “I choose not to comment on that.”

“Okay.” Seungyoun says in reply, laughing.

After a few minutes of silence between them, Wooseok mumbles “I really think you were meant to be an angel. But you look really cute with the horns.”

He lifts his head to look up at Seungyoun, revelling in the newfound freedom to stare at him as much as he wants, as close as he wants without coming across as creepy. Seungyoun lifts a hand up to cup Wooseok’s cheek, a pretty, content smile on his face. He’s about to say something sweet, Wooseok can tell.

“And I really think you were meant to be a demon.”

Wooseok kicks Seungyoun in the shin. Gently, though, because Seungyoun is precious to him now. 

A few months later, when Seungyoun’s taking Wooseok on their 4th _ real _date (well, as real as they can get when you’re a broke college student—the first 2 consisted of them studying and eating McDonald’s, but they were happy enough), not forcefully set up by their friends, it ends in Seungyoun shoving Wooseok up against the wall in Seungyoun’s dorm, lips latched onto his like Wooseok is his lifeline.

It’s when Seungyoun mutters something about Wooseok being the most precious thing he’s ever got to touch that it happens—Wooseok doesn’t feel it, but it lights up the dark room, like someone had interrupted them and switched the light on.

It _ is _ an interruption, but not by someone storming in. Wooseok’s halo and wings had appeared, glowing brighter than they’d ever glowed before.

“Woah,” Seungyoun says just like the first time he’d seen them, staring in awe. “Have they always been this bright?”

Wooseok shakes his head, still breathing heavily from the kiss. “I don’t think so. They’ve never been able to light up a room.”

“Wait,” Wooseok realises something, his halo a substitute for the lightbulb that lights up in his head. “The night we first kissed and your horns came out—they were _ really _ glowing. Do they usually glow?”

“Really? They’ve never glowed before.” Seungyoun answers, reaching out to trace one of Wooseok’s wings with the hand that isn’t holding onto Wooseok’s hip.

“I read a book when I was younger, but I thought it was bullshit because my parents had never mentioned anything like that,” Seungyoun hums as Wooseok pauses, encouraging him to continue. “About fate. When an angel met another angel meant for them, or a demon met another demon meant for them, their horns or halo would burn brighter at a meaningful moment. But only an angel and an angel, or a demon and a demon.”

Wooseok isn’t sure if it’s just the reflection of the glimmer of the light his wings are emitting in Seungyoun’s eye making his eyes look wet or not, but Seungyoun doesn’t let him analyse for long, placing a kiss on the corner of his mouth in response. He begins to kiss down his jaw softly, following the trace of wet patches he leaves behind back up, only stopping when he reaches right next to Wooseok’s ear. 

“You should’ve considered my proposition that night,” Wooseok can hear him clearer than ever, can hear the smile in his voice clearer than ever. “We won the challenge. We beat fate.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for readingggg! :D


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